Surround Our Youth
Be aware of your surroundings. This is a phrase I first 
heard when my parents were teaching me how to drive. Dad and mom would tell me to check my rearview and side view mirrors from time to time while driving so I would know if traffic was near. They wanted me to avoid a wreck at all times so that I could avoid, or not cause harm.
The same thing can be said for our everyday lives. Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of those who are around you and what they are trying to achieve by being in your life. The people that surround us bring more quality or more trouble in our lives. These can be friends, co-workers, or complete strangers.
As I write this, God keeps bringing me to today’s youth. They are surrounded by so much. Most of this surrounding comes from social media. Instagram, TicTock, Snapchat, and Facebook all surround our youth on a daily basis. As parents, grandparents, and fellow church family; were completely blind to this surrounding most of the time.
That’s why now more than ever we must, as a community of believers, surround our youth with the goodness of God on a daily basis. 1 John 4:7 tells us to “love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” Everything our youth sees on social media is not going to show them the love of God, but as a community of believers, we can surround them with this love that only comes from God every opportunity that we get. Let’s add quality to the youth in our lives.
– Assistant Pastor Nick Colbaugh
Power Struggle
Have you ever been caught in the middle of a power
struggle? My daughters exhibit this on a weekly basis. They will have a power struggle over sharing a toy, what cartoon to watch on TV, or what they are going to eat for supper.
The same thing happens at the workplace. Managing partners can be in a power struggle over who is going to become CEO of a company. Employees can be in a power struggle over who gets the next promotion.
We can take it a step further and also see a spiritual power struggle taking place in our everyday lives. The darkness of the devil is pulling us in one direction, while the light of God is pulling us in another. However, the Bible teaches us that “all power and authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The “me” in that verse is Jesus.
So, when you are in those moments in life where you are caught in a spiritual power struggle between Satan and God; remember you serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He will reign on his throne forever sitting at the right hand of God. Get out of the way and let God fight the battle for you. You don’t have the power to defeat Satan in this power struggle, but hallelujah Christ does.
– Assistant Pastor Nick Colbaugh
An Audience of One:
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all like an audience. That audience can
be your wife, your children, spectators at a sporting event, a play, or a congregation of a church.
Composers love to hear the roar of the crowd as validation for the performance. Parents love to see their kids laugh when they do something funny. Performing for the audience is something we all do. No matter how big or how small that audience is.
As Christians, we need to remember who our audience is. It is not our family, it is not our friends, it is not our fellow church goers, and it’s not the pastor. Our audience is God and God alone.
The Bible tells us in Matthew Chapter 6 to give in secret, pray in secret and fast in secret. Why secret? Because our audience is God. We don’t have to tell Him what we’re doing, He sees what we’re doing. This passage also tells us that He will reward us openly for doing these things in secret.
God is our audience….. let’s listen to His roar and look for His smile when He enjoys what we have done.
– Assistant Pastor Nick Colbaugh